South Korea's Financial Services Commission will raise this year's household debt growth target to around 3% from 1.5% and expand state-backed housing finance as authorities try to contain politically sensitive home-price gains without choking off supply. The higher ceiling creates room for about 30 trillion won in additional household lending, with the extra capacity directed first to group loans tied to housing supply, including balance-payment, relocation-cost and interim-payment loans, and to younger and owner-occupier buyers, while the 600 million won cap on Seoul home-purchase loans and core loan-to-value and debt service ratio rules remain in place. Project-finance support for real estate development was increased from an originally planned 26.3 trillion won to more than 47.8 trillion won, or about $33.8 billion, and the package adds policy support for young first-time buyers and newlyweds, including the Youth Future Bogeumjari Loan due in January through the Korea Housing Finance Corporation with rates in the 3% range and an 80% loan-to-value ratio for eligible under-39 buyers of non-apartment homes priced at 400 million won or less. Authorities also widened some jeonse guarantees, revised income rules for newlyweds and kept or tightened restrictions aimed at speculative demand, after President Lee Jae-myung's approval rating slipped to 51% in a July 24 Gallup Korea poll and June home prices posted their biggest monthly rise since November 2021. Separately, retail investors in single-stock leveraged exchange-traded funds will have to complete five one-hour simulated trading sessions from next Wednesday, in addition to an existing three-hour risk course and a minimum 30 million won cash margin.